Author Notes: These will be short chapters / ficlets. Separated by character point of view as they well, try to figure out who ate Nami's mikan! ;)
Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece. Only Eiichiro Oda is insane enough to write such an epic.
Spoilers/Timeline: Occurs shortly after Nami's 'arc' - before the crew reaches Loguetown.
Setting: On the Going Merry.
Warnings: Language. OC-insert.
Pairings: Nothing intentional
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The Value of Mikan
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Nami
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Hands on her hips, she glared at each one of the boys in turn. Usopp was shaking where he sat at the bench in their kitchen; he seemed genuinely frightened by her angry glare. Luffy, sitting next to Usopp and leaning back on his arms, was smiling, as if he had done nothing wrong and this was some sort of game. Zoro was sitting against the wall near the door, his eyes closed as he most likely drifted to sleep. Sanji had stopped paying attention to her, probably assuming he was only in here to help root out the perpetrator. Though he had stopped shouting at Luffy and was now glaring at the dozing Zoro, as if ready to kick the swordsman into confessing, whether he was responsible or not.
"Who. Ate. My. Mikan?"
Everyone (save the now snoring Zoro) seemed focused on Luffy, but he didn't even have a guilty face. He just clapped his shoes together and laughed.
"Are we going to play a detective game to figure it out? 'Cause that would be so cool!"
"Oi, Luffy, aren't you always trying to sneak a taste?" Usopp asked, glancing away from her to poke at their oh-so-energetic captain.
Luffy pouted out his lips. "Yeah, but Sanji always stops me."
"Because those belong to Nami-san, and you have no right to eat her precious mikan," Sanji grumbled at the captain, but he quickly turned his words on the now sleeping swordsman. "Oi, marimo! How dare you sleep while the greedy thief that ate Nami-san's mikan is still alive."
A snore was his response.
Which, of course, gave Sanji incentive to slam a kick at the swordsman's head. Which, of course, was blocked by the still-sheathed white sword that was always by Zoro's side, if not touching his hand. "What the hell is your problem, idiot cook?"
"I bet you ruined Nami-san's mikan, didn't you?" Sanji growled between the cigarette in his mouth, moving his foot back to the floor while he spoke.
Zoro scowled back, slashing the white sword across the empty air between them. "Why would I eat such disgusting food? Wouldn't it make more sense to suspect Lu-"
"Inconsiderate bastard," Sanji said softly, the change of tone causing Zoro to stop ranting and blink at the blonde-haired cook standing over him. "HOW DARE YOU INSULT NAMI-SAN!"
And so began another violent match between Sanji and Zoro, yelling back and forth at each other while the rest of the crew sat back and stared - or laughed, in Luffy's case. Back from her position at the far end of the room, Nami sighed. This was getting her no where.
"WOULD EVERYONE SHUT UP FOR A MOMENT!"
That did the trick. Well. Except for Zoro, who managed to bonk Sanji on the head before the cook could flutter back to Nami's side. Seeing as Zoro was finally up and paying attention - somewhat at least - she sent him the glare he had missed earlier, getting a noticeable grunt in return.
"Now that I finally have everyone's attention, I've come to the conclusion that either someone is a very good liar -"
"Usopp!" Luffy put in.
"Hey!"
"Well it's true. You're the best liar I've ever seen."
Instead of being insulted, Usopp crossed his arms and nodded, agreeing with the praise. "Yes, yes, I am the best in that department. No one can best the great creative lies of Captain Usopp!"
Which had Luffy laughing again. And Sanji growling. And Zoro sitting back down as if to go to sleep. Again.
Why could she never get order with these boys?
"Stop interrupting me!" She shouted, slamming both hands to the wooden table. Finally, they were quiet, but there was no telling how long this was going to last. "Anyway, I think someone else has snuck aboard our ship."
That had Zoro awake, lifting his head up, eyes starting to glance in every corner of the room. As if someone could hide in here while all of them were having a meeting. Luffy, on the other hand, just got more excited. "Ooo! A stow-away! Are we going to play detective to see if we can catch them?"
"Oi, Luffy, why do you want to play detective so much?" Usopp asked.
"'cause it sounds like fun!" Luffy grinned.
Nami put her fingers to her temple, feeling a headache coming on. How long would this go on until she could get her actual request out?
"So, Nami-san, what should we do if what you suspect is true?"
Seeing the crew looking to her at last - thank you, Sanji - she smiled. "I want everyone to think back to what they did this morning and last night and try to remember anything unusual you may have noticed. Especially around my mikan grove," she said with a growl.
Once they did get a hold of the perpetrator, she would definitely have to mete out some kind of terrible punishment. No one ruined Bellemere's mikan and got away with it. Someone was definitely going to have to pay.